L’ISTITUTO BRUNO LEONI IN

2018

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In 2018 Istituto Bruno Leoni (IBL) continued its mission of promoting a genuinely classical liberal perspective in the Italian public debate, as well as abroad. Through its studies, books, the organization of conferences and seminars, the publication of articles in the Italian and international press, as well as by means of its educational efforts, in the past 12 months IBL endeavoured to shape the public opinion and to grow a new generation of liberty-loving scholars and opinion-makers.

In 2018 Istituto Bruno Leoni was rated as the 134th best think tank in the world by the University of Pennsylvania’s "Global Go To Think Thank Index,” which surveys over 8,000 think tanks all over the world.

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Research

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The team of young researchers of Istituto Bruno Leoni have published in 2018 9 Briefing Papers (in-depth studies of public policies) and 10 Focus (more approachable, yet rigorous takes on current policy issues). IBL’s studies are often quoted and reported on in the media.Moreover, in 2018 IBL published 3 Occasional Papers by notable scholars (William H. Prior, Peter J. Boettke and Natale D’Amico), two updates of our SuperIndice (a synthetic comparative appraisal the state of the of the Italian public finances) and a Handbook on Reforms delivered to all the Members of the newly-elected Parliament.

La Gazzetta dello Sport 11 settembre 2018 I negozi chiusi di domenica: Di Maio frena “Si farà a turno”

La Repubblica 31 gennaio 2019 Negozi chiusi alla domenica, ora la partita entra nel vivo

Affari&Finanza - La Repubblica, 24 settembre 2018 Negozi chiusi la domenica: la controriforma del governo mette a rischio 40mila posti

L’Economia del Corriere della Sera - 3 maggio 2018 Italia, l’arma spuntata dell’Euro: il Superindice IBL

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IBL Libri

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In the past year IBL Libri (the publishing arm of Istituto Bruno Leoni) published 14 books (6 original works and 8 translations of foreign books).

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L’Economia del Corriere della Sera, 17 settembre 2018 Perché sono guai se l’euro si rompe?

Italia Oggi, 3 ottobre 2018 Il costo dell’uscita dall’Euro

La Stampa, 21 settembre 2018 Maroni svela la strategia di Salvini per le europee

Rai Radio 1-Zapping, 29 settembre 2018 Partecipazione di Carlo Stagnaro

Cosa succede se usciamo dall’Euro? (What Happens if We Leave the Euro?) brought into the pre-election public debate the issue of the impact of a return to a national currency. The book was widely mentioned in the media and elicited a good deal of discussion among observers of all political persuasions, both before and after the general election.

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Fahrenheit, RAI Radio 3, 17 ottobre 2018 Ripensare lo spazio della cultura

Il Foglio, 17 ottobre 2018 Vogliamo cultura o politica culturale?

Il Giornale, 13 dicembre 2018 La cultura è ostaggio dei burocrati statali, per liberarla servono pluralismo e mercato

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With Il pubblico ha sempre ragione? Presente e futuro delle politiche culturali (Is the Public Always Right? Present and Future of Cultural Policies) IBL reflected on the role of the State in the cultural domain and how a different perspective from the dominant “state-centric” one can encourage the arts. The book was presented in several Italian cities and was well received in the national press, as well as being the focus of a national broadcast radio talk show.

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In Lasciare in pace gli altri. Una prospettiva etica is the Italian translation of John Lachs’ Meddling: On the Virtue of Leaving Others Alone. Society and – importantly – the government are full of people who seem to know what is good for us better than we do ourselves. Lachs discusses the joy of choice and the rare virtue of leaving others alone to lead their lives as they see fit, thus allowing vital and sustainable communities to emerge.

La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, 30 giugno 2018 L'etica «democratica» di lasciare in pace gli altri (e se stessi)

ilG Il Giornale, 23 settembre 2018 Desideri essere libero? Lascia in pace gli altri

ilG Il Giornale, 29 giugno 2018 Ecco perché lasciare in pace il prossimo è un obbligo morale

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Domenica-Il Sole 24 Ore, 10 febbraio 2019 Sta andando tutto molto bene

Il Foglio, 27 febbraio 2019 Progresso. Dieci motivi per guardare al futuro con fiducia

F, 6 marzo 2019 Oggi stiamo tutti così beneF

In late 2018 IBL Libri published the Italian translation of Johan Norberg’s Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future. The book is a useful an timely reminder of the astonishing progress in our circumstances, which have reached unimaginable levels compared with the past human history. Whatever the indicators we choose to use, we can see that our lives are better and longer than ever. All this was enabled by the pre-eminent place assigned to individual liberty, an open economy and the scientific method.

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In 2018 IBL organized over 60 events: conferences, cycles of lectures, seminars, and presentations of books, issued either by IBL or by other publishers.The proceedings of IBL’s events are recorded and the videos uploaded on its YouTube channel.

Events

8 February 2018 – Milan Flat TaxPresentation of the book by Nicola Rossi

21 September 2018 – Milan Cosa succede se usciamo dall'euro?Presentation of the book edited by Carlo Stagnaro

21 March 2018 – Milan Perché non dobbiamo preoccuparci della disoccupazione tecnologicaLecture byDeirdre N. McCloskey

8 October 2018 – Milan Freedom Inc.Presentazione del libro di Brian M. Carney e Isaac Getz

4 May 2018 – Milan Financial Stability and the Corruption of Central BanksSeminar with Geoffrey Wood

12 November 2018 – Milan Libertà e architettura: ripensando la cittàIncontro con Patrik Schumacher

16 May 2018 – AGCOM Rome L’economia dei Dati

21 June 2018 - Rome Il sistema audiovisivo. Evoluzione e dimensioni economichePresentation of the e-Media Institute – Istituto Bruno Leoni Report 2018

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Bruno Leoni Prize

On November 12th IBL hosted its annual dinner in Milan. As always, the dinner coincided with the awarding ceremony of the Bruno Leoni Prize: named after our namesake Bruno Leoni, this award is meant to recognize individuals who achieved significant contributions to the cause of liberty.In the last few years, awardees included Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, historian Richard Pipes, economist Deirdre McCloskey and, in 2017, Leopoldo Lopez, the imprisoned leader of the Venezuelan resistance.In 2018 we recognized the achievements of Canan Arin, a lawyer and human rights activist who struggles against the practice of under-age marriages in her native Turkey.

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IBL for the young

IBL’s efforts are also aimed to bring the younger generations closer to the classical liberal ideas, in order to make them familiar with thinker and theories that lead, not only to a deeper understanding, but also to a positive attitude towards the underlying principles of a free society.

Istituto Bruno Leoni idee per il libero mercato

XII MISES SEMINAR

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A two-day international seminar aimed at young free-market scholars and PhD candidates. A number of young scholars had the opportunity to present their original work, which is later commented by a senior scholar and discussed by the audience.

The 12th Mises Seminar was held in Sestri Levante on 13-14 October and saw the participation of two distinguished keynote speakers: Terence Kealey (Visiting Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, Washington DC) and George Selgin (Director, Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute, Washington DC).

IBL nelle scuole is a program of basic economic education we offer in selected high schools in Italy. The aim is to make both students and teachers acquainted with critically important economic ideas which will help them to resist the lure of widespread misconceptions and distortions in the public discourse.

In 2018 IBL also organized two training seminars for high school teachers (one in Milan, one in Salerno) to disseminate the best teaching practices for economics, in collaboration with AEEE (the Association for European Economic Education, an officially recognized organization).

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This year we have complemented our lectures with new educational materials for teachers and students. In particular, we asked the professional artist Giorgio Vallorani to devise 5 comics book stories, each accompanied by a short video animation and which were collected in a single volume titled What Really Happens If… This project focused on the notion of the unintended consequences of public policies, to enable them to grasp a fundamental concept that underlies all human actions.The comics books were also translated into English and Spanish.

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In parallel with our comics books series, IBL has commissioned to Mr. Vallorani a series of five shoer animated videos based on the book Jesus the Unknown Economist by french author Charles Gave, translated by IBL Libri in February 2018.

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Advocacy

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L’Economia del Corriere della Sera, 13 febbraio 2018 Abbiamo 40 mila euro di debito pubblico a testa. Ce lo ricorda un orologio in Stazione

La Stampa, 4 marzo 2018 Debito record, ora l’Italia è la sorvegliata speciale

IBL's Debt Clock in train stations

In 2018, during the electoral campaign, to educate the public on the issue of debt, IBL has prominently shown its own “Debt Counter” on maxiLED screens in train stations in Milan and Rome (900,000 daily visitors). The ad appeared 855 times each day. IBL’s initiative was widely reported in the print and TV media.

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In 2018 Epicenter updated its Nanny State Index. The Nanny State Index tracks paternalistic lifestyle regulations that the European Parliament proposed in its current and previous legislative terms. The Index gives a full picture of which political parties favour more lifestyle regulation and which wish to achieve public health goals in other ways.In co-operation with the Liberty Fund and the Institute of Economic Affairs IBL organized an international conference on the life and the work of Bruno Leoni.

EPICENTER, 17 June 2018 Nanny State Index

IBL-IEA-Liberty Fund, 8 March 2018 Bruno Leoni (1913-1967) and Classical Liberalism

IBL’s efforts also have an international impact, particularly through ist participation to Epicenter, an European network of free-market think tanks (of which IBL is a founding member), which opened its Brussels offices in 2018.

International Efforts

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Istituto Bruno Leoni’s efforts find a steady echo in the media. IBL’s opinion pieces are regularly published in the national press (Il Sole 24 Ore, Corriere-Economia, Repubblica, Il Messaggero, Il Mattino, Il Foglio) and IBL’s representatives often appear in national broadcast radio and TV shows.

Media & Communication

La7-Omnibus, 1 marzo 2018 Interview to Serena Sileoni

La7-Omnibus, 17 maggio 2018 Interview to Nicola Rossi

RAI News-Economia 24, 17 dicembre 2018 Interview to Nicola Rossi

RAI-Night Tabloid, 21 maggio 2018 Interview to Serena Sileoni

RAI-Radio anch’io, 23 gennaio 2018 Interview to Carlo Stagnaro

RAI-GR4 Economia, 11 dicembre 2018 Interview to Andrea Giuricin

Radio 24-La versione di Oscar, 19 novembre 2018 Interview to Franco Debenedetti

Our numbers in 2018

25 Papers

15 Books

60 Events

254 articlesin the press

605 mentionsin the press

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17478 Facebook followers

24200 Twitter followers

1200 YouTube followers

100+ new videos

111 Posts onLeoniBlog